


Hiding

by MrsThreepwood



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, FTM Trans, Family, Jealousy, M/M, Other, Trans Character, Transsexual, dealing with family issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 15:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7762492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsThreepwood/pseuds/MrsThreepwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry drops the bomb about John's past and Sherlock is not impressed. Can be read as M/M romance or strong friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hiding

**Author's Note:**

> For T. - for everything. I'll be there for you no matter what.

John knew it was a mistake. Of course Sherlock was his best friend and he didn't want to face Harry on his own when proposing she should go into rehab again. But as soon as the discussions started -and turned into fights later- he knew he took the wrong person for the meeting.

“Harry, please. Could you think of mom and dad for a while? They can't stand seeing you like that. That's why I'm here.”

“Oh, oh of course it's about our parents now. It was always about them, right?”, Harry spat out in an angry voice. “Even in our childhood the most important thing was who got more love of them. No, wait. It wasn't about love. It was about attention. That's what mattered to you, right?”

Sherlock stood in the corner of Harry's small living room. His analytical brain didn't give him one bloody hint what to do here and every look across the room towards John remained without a reaction. All of John's focus was on his sister now, trying to get her all the help she needed. After Clara left for good, things went from bad to worse. Heavy drinking found a companion in skipping work and leaving for trips Harry couldn't afford in the first place.

“You know that's not true Harry. I always tried to keep us together as a family. I supported you all the way when you came out to our parents and...”

“...and then you had to gain back all the attention with claiming you were transsexual. Brilliant move, really. A gay daughter? That's fine. But a daughter living with the delusion of thinking she was a man? Now that's something to talk about. You couldn't stand being in my shadow, right? You had to be more extreme than I was... you had to become the freak you are now, craving for attention like the whore you are.”  
A smile appeared on Harry's face. She was overwhelmed by the feeling of revenge – surely that was a new piece of information to Sherlock and now this stupid friendship would be crumbling.

Within one second Sherlock was across the room, standing or rather towering in front of Harry and glaring at her.

“Don't.”

“Oh, now you're giving me commands. What? Afraid I hurt your puppy's feelings? Little Jessica being all frightened I tell you the truth about her?”

John was trapped between fear, anger and shame. He managed to hide his past pretty well and he knew it. His choice of clothing wasn't just a matter of taste but also of hiding essential feature of his body. Did Sherlock notice where his love for a little too big jumpers came from though? Of course he had. He was the most brilliant and observant human being in John's universe. But still they never talked about it. And now Harry had to open Pandora's box.  
Yet a small glance at Sherlock told him everything he needed to know. His friend was talking quietly but in the most dangerous way he ever heard him speak.

“First of all: He's a he and not a she. His name is John, not Jessica, no matter what the birth certificate says. Second: Don't you ever call him a freak again. If I hear this word out of your mouth just one more time, I'll make your life a living hell. And you know I can do so. John is neither a freak nor an attention whore. He's a hero. Not only of Afghanistan though. Your stupid rant perfectly showed me where his real battlefield was: At home. The wound on his shoulder probably hurt like hell but it was nothing against the bloody nonsense you told him when he was confessing his true self. Oh, did your tiny brain think it would shock me to know he was born female? How stupid do you think I am? I'm not a second Anderson.”

Harry backed off, bumping into the wall. A cheap bottle of wine fell from the shelf next to her, shattering into pieces when hitting the ground and spilling a dark red liquid over the even cheaper grey rug. The smell intoxicated her. She was angry that some of her alcohol was now nothing more than a big stain and that she had to invest a few quid more to get to a satisfactory level of being drunk the next time she hit the bottles hard.

“I knew about John's past from the day he moved in with me. Two reasons: It's not easy to hide your silicon peckers when living with a nosy flat mate like me. I found them while John was using the downstairs bathroom for the first tine. Additionally my brother is the human incarnation of the British government. He texted me about John about 15 seconds after my discovery. The point is: I never cared. So he does a lack a natural penis and he might have some scars around the breast area. How would you imagine this to affect our friendship though? Did you really” - now he was chuckling - “think I would abandon him? You're a funny person Harry. Being gay you should know how it is to be treated like a freak and that this isn't a choice you make. But maybe John made me think of the Watsons as good, brave and intelligent people just a bit too much. It doesn't happen a lot that I start to like human beings. In fact, it only happened twice so far. There's no bloody reason for me to think of John of a lesser person just because his DNA didn't match his feelings towards his gender in the first place. He saved so many lives, including mine, and now he tries to save yours. It's time you end your string of self-pity and start to see all the efforts of your brother to help you. I love him for what he is – maybe you should try that to.”

With those words Sherlock spun around and left a dumbstruck Harry and an even more baffled John.   
It wasn't enough for Harry to begin therapy immediately or for John to forget all the troubles of his past. Life wasn't a fairy tale after all.

It was enough to make them think though. Maybe they weren't freaks, maybe they didn't need fixing, maybe they just needed a helping hand – might it be from their little brother or the self diagnosed sociopath they had as a flat mate.

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 20 minutes, un-betaed, non-native English speaker. Sorry for various mistakes, I'm happy if you point out spelling errors. That was more of an emotional burst that had to get out.  
> I'm not sure whether trans*people are "allowed" in the British military but let's just assume they are.


End file.
